The Joy of Vinyl

Many of you reading this post are considered part of Generation Y, or the Millenials. I myself am on the tail end of the Baby Boom. Therefore, while I have very fond memories of vinyl phonograph records, also known as LPs (for long-playing), you are better acquainted with the CD, that staple of Generation X. Many of you, however, probably own few CDs and store most of your music collection digitally on hard drives, mp3 players, and cell phones. It is to you that I address this post about the Joys of Vinyl.

When I was a kid in the early 70s, I listened to WLS, 890 on your AM dial. Yep, we kids listened to our top 40 music on an AM (meaning non-stereo) radio station. FM was for cool college kids and aging hippies. We used to collect 45s, which were 7" records with one song (the one you really liked) on side A and another (an obscure album cut you'd never heard of) on side B. They were usually 79, 89, or 99 cents at the local department store. We'd hear a song we liked (typically over and over), and then run down to the store and spend our allowance on such classics as "Black Water" by the Doobie Brothers or "Loves Me Like a Rock" by Paul Simon.

As I got into junior high school and had a larger allowance, I began to discover the LP record album. This was a two-sided collection of several songs by an artist. My tastes had moved into groups like Chicago and Foreigner, re-releases of classic rock like Jimi Hendrix, and jazz artists like Charlie Parker and Dave Brubeck. I would get my dad to take me to Rose Records on Milwaukee Road in Niles where they had a huge selection of titles, and I always looked for the $4.99 specials. This was the beginning of my record collection.

Now for those of you who don't know about LPs, here are several reasons why they are cooler than CDs:

1) They have two sides of 18-22 minutes each. Artists worked to craft a cohesive statement for Side A (begin with a attention grabber, end with a rocker) and one for Side B (start with something a little more daring or experimental, end with an anthemic rocker). CDs, on the other hand, are one, 70-minute long statement that often includes a lot of filler tunes that never would have made it onto the tighter, more focused LP format.

2) The album art is on a much larger canvas (roughly 150 square inches vs. 22.5). This becomes very noticeable when you look at a classic album cover like Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and compare it to the minuscule CD version. When you sit down and look at an LP cover, it fills your lap. Also, artists would occasionally put a full-sized wall poster in the record jacket like Prince did with Purple Rain.

3) Many audiophiles (people who really, really love their music and can discern minute differences in sound quality) will tell you that the analog sound on an LP is warmer and more accurate than the digital sound on a CD.

Granted, there are some reasons why CDs are better--portability, durability (records sound scratchy pretty quickly), "ripability" (you can put them on the computer fairly easily), and availability of players. However, most people my age and older have a special place in their hearts for vinyl records.

If you would like to explore vinyl records in all their glory, then you are in luck! This Saturday, April 18, is Record Store Day all across America. If you go to your local independent record store, you'll be able to buy all sorts of cool, limited edition vinyl, produced just for this event. Click on the logo below to find a participating store near you!